"Chronicle-ology" by Danny Pitt Stoller

I've found a wonderful article in the blog Everything Shines by Danny Pitt Stoller. He presents the case for why The Chronicles of Narnia should be read in the published order rather than the chronological order. I also made this case here. But I merely mentioned it, he goes in-depth. His points are terrific. Thanks so much, Danny. There are four parts to his entry, the first of which starts here, with links to the next one on each.
Long live Aslan!

Little Updates

If you haven't already noticed, I've added a place to drop me a line about something not post-specific. On the left are a little quill and ink as well as a book. The book will view the Guestbook and the quill and ink will let you write on it. (There is also a link to sign on the Guestbook viewing page.)

Sunshine, whom you may have already read about, now has a blog Mission Improvisational. I've posted a link in my "Also Visit" section.

The release of Peter Pan's NeverWorld is taking longer than I would like, but it is still not entirely out of bounds of my original estimate. I can tell you that it shouldn't be very long now, two months or less. I'm rooting for less, how about you? Actually, two months is a worst case scenario.

Delirious

I remembered another movie that I love which plays around with writers and writing. Granted, it seems a lot less deep and much more silly than the others I have mentioned, but I like it all the same.

The late great John Candy starred in Delirious, playing a soap opera writer who turned in his “bible” for the show’s upcoming storylines. Just as he is about to go on vacation, his bosses (one of whom is the late great Jerry Orbach) tells him they are unhappy with the script. It seems they will get another writer, Federman, to doctor it. Candy leaves in a huff, grumbling all the way to the car and accidentally bonking himself on the head. (Oh! Those old stand-by plot devices, eh?) He wakes up in the fictional town he created, where he is met by a new character he intended to include. She (Mariel Hemingway) assumes him to be another new character. He insists nothing is real and that he created the whole town. Then comes the wonderful line. “You say you’re a writer, well, then…WRITE YOUR WAY OUT!” He ponders it and types on his trusty archaic typewriter. What he writes comes true! As you can imagine, hilarity ensues. But he does not always get his way as one might imagine. For back in the real world Federman is typing on his computer to counteract and thwart him. It’s also a wonderful parody of soap operas, not that those can’t be parodies of each other and themselves. The late great Raymond Burr stars as the villain and there's an appearance by Robert Wagner as well, Robert Wagner, sort of. I guess you'll have to see what I mean.

All in all, though, I include it among my favorite film shenanigans about the art of writing and the writers who labor over their creations.

Deja Write

It's always a pleasure to write the scenes that have been in mind for a very long time. A sweet sense of accomplishment - to finally produce a narrative of a visualization. Of course, this implies the question: Why wait to write a scene? What's wrong with now? Good question. Actually, I very often do write the scenes I am most excited to see realized, or whichever parts grab me at a particular time. As long as there is a malleable spine of an outline, it's not much trouble to fill in the gaps as sections merge into a cohesive whole. Much of the time I do write in this fashion. However, lately I have been devising stories in which chronology becomes a little more than important. I found it more helpful to compose in event order, lest I lose a mental momentum (both in my own head and the minds of the characters) and miss the weight of compounded occurences as the tale unfolds. So there you have it. Due to the nature of the novel I am writing, I am being forced to foresee events and experience a written deja vu.

(Oh. If you haven't guessed, I had a Deja Write happen recently.)

Writer's Regret

A regret that I have as a writer is that I cannot truly read my own material. Since I know what will happen next, I can never experience it in the same way as a reader would. The joy of discovery and being thrown by twists are impossible. But then, I am able to have an experience that the reader is denied – the discovery of creation as I collaborate with the characters as the story grows in ways I didn’t originally imagine. These instances range from smiling at minor details to being surprised by a new development. But it would be nice to be able to read one of my stories with a clean slate.

Ask And Ye Shall Receive...

I got to matching Billy Joel's "Captain Jack" with Captain Jack Sparrow of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean series. Naturally I wanted to have a music video using clips from the movies. I knew I could do it. I have the means, but I cowered in the face of the amount of work and time that would be involved. I have completed projects such as this many times before. But my desire to see it did not outweigh my unwillingness to do it. Then I realized that it probably had already been done. To YouTube! Voila. Several, in fact. This is the first one I went to and I enjoyed it very much. CJMylentz, Thank You and Bravo! Drink up me hearties, yo ho!

Deconstructing India

Well, Laughter came to town again...he saw the final performance of A Passage to India. For the record, Bart and I attended the penultimate showing with Bart's aunt and family friend. After the show, Laughter came to our place (where I showed him Mario Kart Wii.) Always good to hang out with a best friend, no? He stayed the night. We left the next morning for the theatre. Strike. Yup, the magnificent set of the Jeff Recommended A Passage to India came apart, on purpose. Crowbars, hammers, drills, yanking...tearing down the opulance. Laughter had designed it in large pieces so much of it merely needed to be taken apart. The archways and pillars and such can be used in another show at some point. Anyway, a good time despite the work. But then, destructive work is always more fun. Congratulations to Vitalist Theatre on their latest masterpiece. Looking forward to the next one. And yes, I'll be there volunteering my time then as well.